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Meet the Frogs

These tiny guys are hard to photograph–partly because I just snap pics with my iPhone, which isn’t the best at macro, and partly because the frogs are shy and hide. They are masters of the quick getaway–usually it involves kamikaze leaps off bromeliads when they see me walk by. There’s just a rustle of leaves to show their passage, and they’re gone.

There are four frogs in total. Some days we don’t see any, but once in a blue moon we see all four at the same time. That reassures us they’re all still alive. I’ve seen all four at the same time just three times, and Garrett has a few times–it’s called frogger bingo in our household.

The best place to spot a frog is on the smooth pate of the skull. They also climb leaves and sometimes the glass walls of the vivarium. I love to spy on them. They have striped bodies and spotted booties and legs–it looks like they are wearing leopard print leggings.

Even if I don’t see the frogs for a few days, I know they’re alive and well from their singing. The male frogs have a high pitched trilling chirp similar to a cricket’s but sweet, infrequent and random. During times of rain and storms, like our recent weather has been, the frogs sing with joy for what feels to them like their mating season. Even though they’re in an enclosed vivarium they still sense the pressure changes.

We have at least one female and one male. The males are skinny and sing, and the females are chubby. The females lay eggs in bromeliads, which the males are then responsible for fertilizing and carrying on their backs. We’ve seen eggs, but no tadpoles yet. The frogs are nearly a year and a half old and may live ten to twenty years.